MOSCOW -- The ruling United Russia party has demanded an apology from Ella Pamfilova, the chairwoman of the presidential Council for Promoting Civil Society and Human Rights, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports.
In a statement, the council had criticized the "hate campaign" against Russian journalist and human rights activist Aleksandr Podrabinek, calling the actions of the pro-Kremlin youth group Nashi "illegal and immoral."
Nashi activists have been continuously picketing Podrabinek's Moscow house.
They demand that Podrabinek apologize for an article he wrote about a Moscow restaurant changing its name from "Anti-Soviet" under pressure from local officials.
They claim that the article is offensive to "Soviet veterans."
Podrabinek's article on the ej.ru website recalled the Soviet prison camps and Stalinist-era crimes, and accused the current Russian authorities of trying to burnish the image of the Soviet Union.
He said he received threats after publishing his article and that he has gone into hiding.